Miracle? No, but this U.S.-Russia was heck of a hockey game

Feb. 15, 2014

Phil Kessel #81 of the United States celebrates after teammate Cam Fowler #3 scored a goal on Sergei Bobrovski #72 of Russia in the second period during the Men's Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group A game February 15, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. / Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

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SOCHI, RUSSIA — Thirty-four years ago, when the “Miracle at Lake Placid’’ put hockey on the American map, the Soviet Union was the hockey superpower, the pros, the men who had recalibrated the North American game. And the Americans? They were a bunch of college kids thrown together by the mad genius Herb Brooks.

At the time, the world was a very different place. The Soviet Union was still united, a strong world player. America was mired in an economic downturn, made to look spineless by the continuing saga of the hostages in Iran.

When the Americans beat the Soviets 4-3, chasing all-world goaltender Vladislav Tretiak after one period, it was David and Goliath on skates, an unfathomable miracle that defied comprehension.

What happened Saturday night at Bolshoy Arena, a 3-2 U.S. shootout victory over the Russians in the preliminary round, was nothing close to a miracle — just a jewel of a hockey game between two evenly matched opponents who both have an eye on winning medals. If the NHL is seriously considering yanking their players from further Olympic competitions, it should take a second look at the tape of this game and seriously reconsider.

This was fast, physical and downright fabulous.

“It’s obviously a really cool thing,’’ said American Cam Fowler. “You knew the energy was going to be in the building and the crowd was going to be behind them. As players, you want to be in that situation and play in those types of games.’’

Said Patrick Kane: “It’s great for hockey. People are waking up early to watch these games. It’s great for hockey and I’d like to be part of it (in the future).’’

T.J. Oshie of the St. Louis Blues may now be a household name in American places where hockey is a foreign concept, but he’s no Mike Eruzione. Not even close. This was a tossup game from the start, and it played out precisely that way. When it finally ended, with Oshie playing the hero and taking the last five shots of the shootout, the geopolitical tectonic plates did not shift. Not even a little bit.

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All it did was open the eyes of the hockey world, show that the Americans are serious gold medal hopefuls while revealing world-class hockey as a truly beautiful and brutish sport.

“Coming in, everybody talked about Canada and Russia,’’ said American forward Max Pacioretty. “I think we showed in 2010, we’re contenders, too, and we’re going to be contenders again. I think we showed that today.’’

Not only was this not in the area code of a miracle, it was somewhat expected. The Russians’ top six forwards are world class, including Alexander Ovechkin, Yevgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, but the team lacks strength at the bottom of the roster and is spotty on defense. The Americans have depth and ridiculous strength up the middle.

The mostly pro-Russian crowd spent the late afternoon waving flags, blowing horns and screaming, “Roo-shee-ya, Roo-shee-ya,’’ but in the end, a disallowed Russian goal and Oshie’s shootout heroics sent them home downcast.

Oshie, simply, was money. He was added to this Olympic team specifically because he’s so good in shootouts: 7-for-10 this season.

“The great thing about him (Oshie) is every time he comes in, it looks exactly the same,’’ said teammate Zach Parise. “Then he pulls out a different move every time. Even when he missed, he had the goalie beat; he either made the save or it went wide. I was nervous for him. At some point, you’re thinking, ‘Does he have any moves left?’ ”

He had just enough.

Now the Russians must deal with the mountain of pressure the people and the government have placed on their shoulders. President Vladimir Putin came to this game for a happy coronation, not a loss to the Americans. There is pressure because the Russians are a.) playing at home and b.) haven’t been very good in a very long time. It’s been 22 years since Russia won hockey gold. They won eight Olympic hockey gold medals from 1956-1992, only falling short to the U.S. in 1960 and 1980. Since winning in Albertville in 1992, before NHL players began competing in the games, the Russians have finished second, third, fourth and then sixth in Vancouver.

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It was intriguing to watch their coach, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, get grilled by the Russian media after the shootout loss. These folks make the Americans seem milquetoast.

They wanted to know if the Russian coach would stage a protest over the fact that one of the referees, Brad Meier, is an American, and no Russians officiated this game.

“It would probably be more objective to have a referee from a neutral country, but I felt the referee was a good one,’’ he said through an interpreter. “I didn’t pay much attention to that.’’

They wanted to know if Bilyaletdinov was aware that American goalie Jonathan Quick often resorts to “tricks’’ like pushing the net off its pegs, which led to the Russians’ disallowed goal.

He said he wasn’t aware that Quick has that reputation — he doesn’t, and wasn’t guilty of purposely pushing the net off its moorings — but conceded, “Yes, I do believe there was a mistake by the referee.’’

If the Russians don’t pull it together and fast, it’s going to be a feeding frenzy.